90 and still going strong

Date / 01 May 2017

Woh Hup was founded 90 years ago by Mr Yong Yit Lin, who started his construction business in Seremban, Malaysia, by building garden fences for the British Resident. The business has since spanned four generations, evolved and grown, mirroring the dynamism of the Singapore economy and the dramatic transformation of the Singapore skyline. Its body of works includes many of Singapore’s most notable and iconic developments in the public and private sector.

Among National Heritage sites built by Woh Hup are the former Ministry of Labour building in Chinatown which housed the Chinese Protectorate for the welfare of Chinese immigrants; Changi Prison, a state-of-the-art penal facility of its time, completed in 1936; and MacDonald House, the first post-war high-rise office building in Singapore.

Woh Hup is also behind some of the Republic’s modern landmarks - the Gardens by the Bay conservatory complex being one example. It is also the main contractor for the Jewel Changi complex which will connect Terminals 1, 2 and 3 of Changi Airport and the Changi MRT Station when completed.

Woh Hup celebrates 90 years of growth with a $3 million donation to charities, community projects and education. Woh Hup’s tradition of giving was established by its founder, the late Mr Yong Yit Lin. He has always believed in giving back to the community that helped his business to flourish. Continuing the example that he has set, Woh Hup has supported low-income students, the elderly and the under-privileged in Singapore and the region.

At Woh Hup’s 90th Anniversary gala dinner at the Shangri La Hotel on 6th February 2017, President Tony Tan received a $1.5 million cheque on behalf of the President’s Challenge, NParks’ Group Director Ng Chow Keng and Chairman of Garden City Fund, Professor Leo Tan, was presented with $500,000 to build a new Therapeutic Garden for senior citizens in Bishan - Ang Mio Kio. On 21st April 2017, at Woh Hup staff Dinner and Dance at Fairmont Hotel, a cheque of $1 million was presented to National University of Singapore (NUS) to establish a Visiting Professorship at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering. The donation will be used to invite top researchers, scholars and/or practitioners in the civil and environmental engineering field globally to come to share their expertise on construction innovations and exchange latest best practices with the university’s faculty staff, students and the built environment industry to establish thought leadership in this field.